NPP gov't misused GARID loan on conferences instead of drainage projects — Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of misusing funds under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project.

He claimed that a significant portion of the loan was spent on activities unrelated to its intended purpose.

According to the Minister, the loan, which was contracted to finance drainage and flood mitigation projects, was instead used to fund conferences, consultancy services and other expenditures that did not directly address the project's objectives.

He said the government has since engaged the World Bank to repurpose portions of the loan to ensure the remaining funds are directed towards their intended use.

"I talk about this GARID project with a bit of pain... GARID is a loan. It is not free money. It is indeed a loan. It is a loan that is not even concessional. It is a commercial loan because it doesn't meet the minimum concessionality," Dr. Ato Forson said on JoyNews' PM Express on Thursday, July 23.

The Finance Minister argued that it was unacceptable for the country to borrow large sums only for less than half of the funds to be invested in the projects for which they were secured.

He further stated that borrowing should translate into tangible infrastructure and development outcomes, warning that Ghana must still repay the loan regardless of how the funds were utilised.

"When we took office, we flagged this... I wrote to the World Bank and said that we need to repurpose some of this loan that has been contracted... Clearly, they were spending on things that were not fixing the drains," he said.

Dr. Ato Forson said his review of requests for further drawdowns under the project raised concerns about how the funds had been allocated under the previous administration.